Australian National Lesbian Rowing Camp

The first Australian National Lesbian Rowing Camp was held over the weekend of 29 November, 2003, in Dimboola, Victoria. Dimboola is a small town (population of around 1500) in North Western Victoria, approximately half way between Melbourne and Adelaide. The attraction of this sleepy country town is the scenic Wimmera River which winds around the Little Desert National Park.The women of the Melbourne Argonauts Queer Rowing Club banded together to host the camp, which attracted 22 female rowers from Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide.

The three day camp officially kicked off on the Friday evening, with rowers meeting at the Dimboola Rowing Club for social drinks. The relaxed and friendly atmosphere on this night was to continue throughout the camp.

Serious rowing began on Saturday, with three 90 minute sessions of rowing each day. Women had the opportunity to row in eights, fours, pairs and singles.

The focus of the camp was to improve rowing technique, specifically trying to establish a good rhythm and contrast through the rowing stroke. As we know, rhythm must be established as a crew, rather than individually, and poor rhythm can become part of an entrenched culture within a club very quickly. Having most of the women from the club able to work on this aspect across the long stretches of scenic Wimmera River gave us an excellent opportunity to establish a strong culture of slide control.

New rowers had the opportunity to try their hand at coxing. This led to a number of crews snaking their way up and down the river in a manner that was equal parts amusing and alarming.

The warm weather over the weekend made for perfect rowing conditions, and also for swimming in the river afterwards. The schedule was not all hectic, with sufficient time for sitting on the riverbank, reading and watching boats go by, and casually chatting to each other. One of the biggest hits of the camp was the food with ample supplies of fresh fruit, nutritious breads and salads.

Probably the best moment of the day was saved for sunset, when the boats had been put away, blisters had been dressed, bellies were full and rowers could take time out to watch some spectacular sunsets over the Little Desert.

The attendance of women from Sydney and Adelaide delighted the hosts, and serve to mark the emergence of organised lesbian rowing in Australia. Probably, lesbians have been involved in rowing since women have participated in the sport, but to our knowledge, there was no organising body that aimed to cater specifically for lesbian rowing in Australia.

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Arguably, Adelaide has the claim to be the first presence, when a group of queer friendly women purchased their own boat around 13 years ago. They have been rowing together on a social basis ever since. Three years ago, they were joined by the Melbourne Argonauts, and this was followed late last year with the establishment of the Argonaut’s counterparts in Sydney.

Leading up to the camp, the Argonauts had worked closely with the members of the Dimboola Rowing Club to arrange access to boats, facilities and suitable accommodation. This is typical of the strengthening relationship between the Argonauts and the wider Rowing community, who have warmly welcomed the Argonauts into the sport.

Last year, Argonaut’s former President, Sandy Mitchell was invited to join as an executive of the Rowing Victoria Board, and the current Vice President, Annie South is a member of the Rowing Victoria Technical Board. The Argonauts have become a familiar feature at rowing regattas and often receive positive feedback and encouragement from other clubs.

For the Melbourne Argonauts, the camp was the culmination of a series of events designed to attract more women as members. This had become a recent focus when the proportion of women in the club dropped from around 50% in 2001 to 30% earlier this year.

In June, the Argonaut women held a meeting to discuss what could be done, and explore some of the barriers that may prevent women from participating or continuing to participate in the sport. With the support from the men, a number of strategies were devised, such as running women only Learn To Row courses. Since then, the Argonauts have run a series of women friendly events, culminating in the rowing camp in late November. For the Argonauts, these strategies appear to be working, with female representation within the club climbing back up to 38% and growing.

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There was great support for repeating the rowing camp on an annual basis at a similar time each year, and it is hoped that next time, lesbian rowers from other states and overseas may join the growing throng.